Actress Maeve Dermody gets lost in her work

Interviews

Actress Maeve Dermody gets lost in her work

05 th Apr 2012

First spotted battling a croc in Black Water, Dermody astounded audiences in Beautiful Kate and again in Griff the Invisible. She’ll soon to be back on our screens in the ABC’s Brothers in Arms and The Homicide Franchise: Dr Wainer’s Summer Offensive.

What was the moment you decided to focus on acting as a career?Playing Toni in Beautiful Kate made me think about what the possibilities were in a very different way. I already had the bug, but it was the level of transformation that was possible. I thought, that’s what I’m interested in, that’s what I want to pursue. I feel very philosophical about acting now. In the sense that it’s about all these different forms. You are polymorphous and you are honing this ability. That was the first time I went, ah, not only can you look really different but it’s an essence thing, and that hadn’t struck me before.

Is that what keeps you inspired?That’s what keeps me searching. I’ve had quite a few experiences now where you vanish, and something else enters and it’s profound. It’s a freedom when your brain clicks out, you’ve done all the work, your brain is off somewhere else and all this other stuff pours in. You are really present. It seems to me to be a profession where you absolutely can constantly evolve if you stay on it.

What is success for you?It would be to be able to play different characters every time, without traces of myself. The biggest compliment for me was when a close friend saw Griff and said: “I saw nothing of you.” I said: “That’s the whole point.” That’s so exciting to me, that as humans we can dissolve boundaries and just be. It’s the greatest form of empathy.

What’s been the highlight?The thing that I’ve enjoyed making the most was Griff, because of the community. It seemed to me the ideal way to make a film, where hugely creative, talented people who are friends enter the same realm and create a film.

Who are your acting heroes?I love Tilda Swinton, and I really like Michelle Williams. I think she’s on a similar trip in a sense that she is interested in acting as a kind of course that your life can take rather than a career. I find her choices highly creative. And she’s very present and raw; I like the way that she chooses directors and projects.

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